Surprises
by SlasherEternal3105
Summary: Ever since he was a little boy, Troy Bolton has always loved surprises, but he doesn't know whether he should be thankful or annoyed when he found himself in the auditorium one surprising afternoon. Probably thankful. TroyRyan
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** The author of this piece of fiction, SlasherEternal3105, does not own any of the characters mentioned herein, but are under the propriety of Disney and its creators. He just loves to play around with such interesting (and hot) characters for his own amusement. He does not make money out of this.

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**Surprises  
Chapter One**

by SlasherEternal3105

Ever since he was just a little boy, Troy Bolton had always loved surprises. Although, many would say that he was a hard person to surprise, he found comfort and enjoyment in the attempt and the thought to surprise him. From birthday parties when he was in grade school, to gifts for no occasion, or to a high mark in an exam, Troy had always reveled and enjoyed surprises.

He enjoyed the surprises so much that he tallied his most precious and treasured surprises his friends and family had done for him. Once when he was in grade school, he had come home from school feeling depressed and angry because it had been his birthday that day, but not one of his classmates or his teachers greeted him a "Happy Birthday, Troy!"

Being the child that he was, he felt gloomy and hated everyone who did not greet him on his most special day. At the very least, his parents had remembered to greet him that sunny morning, but had failed to give him a birthday present.

Barging into the doors, he had marched to the living room and had found it empty when suddenly, people from random corners of the house emerged to greet him a "Happy Birthday!" in unison. All of his friends, classmates, and teachers had been there to share with him his birthday party.

There was cake, ice cream, food, presents, games, and even a clown. On that day, he had been glad to find out that everyone who was present had planned the whole occasion weeks before his actual birthday. He had laughed, eaten ice cream and cake, and opened gifts that whole afternoon. He was happy that everyone actually remembered his special day.

Troy smiled at the memory as he went out of the school building and walked towards the school's theater. That sunny afternoon was etched forever onto his mind. He had never been happier to be surprised by all the people who had shown up that afternoon. Of course, his being already popular at that time helped, but he didn't mind. At least, everyone had remembered his birthday, unlike what he had been presuming.

As he approached the entrance to the theater, he noticed two other students who were heading in the same direction as him. They were a few meters ahead of him, but the golden color of their hair and their confident stride identified them to Troy even despite the distance.

It was Ryan and Sharpay Evans.

Troy quickened his pace in order to reach the twins walking casually towards the theater. They were busy talking about something that Troy couldn't hear since he was still out of earshot, but as he got closer, he remembered that the twins were there too on his birthday that day. He also remembered how they gave him very expensive gifts that afternoon. Actually, it was Sharpay who had given him an expensive gift, while Ryan had opted to give him something simple, but very thoughtful.

"Hey, guys," he said when he caught up to the twins. Ryan smiled at him and nodded while Sharpay giggled beside Ryan.

"Hi, Troy!" she said, rather too sweetly. He nodded to her and gave both of them a smile. He fell into step with them, keeping stride and sometimes falling in sync with the twins' feet.

"How was class?" Ryan asked, leaning back a bit to look at Troy while flashing him a polite smile.

Troy had never really gotten to know either Ryan or Sharpay when they were still children, even though they had come to his birthday that sunny afternoon. And even when they were in high school, he rarely ever chose to talk to them in a deep and personal type of conversation. He had only talked to them to exchange pleasantries or to talk about something important like a group project or homework.

But things began to change when he had stepped into his junior year. Gabriella Montez, yet another surprise that he included in his list, had arrived with her mother to Albuquerque. They had met earlier in a party for "small adults" before the Montez's moved into town and, unknowingly, were already staging plans for the derailment of the Status Quo at East High where Troy was a student and star athlete.

When he and Gabriella had auditioned for the winter musical, they had started a revolution. People were no longer bound to live up to the Status Quo and everyone decided that they would just be themselves.

At first, Troy had found out, Ryan and Sharpay had been badly disappointed for losing the leads for "Twinkle Towne", but as rehearsals started, he had begun to see the twin Evans' at work. He saw that they were really dedicated to their craft, what could possibly be their future career.

The twins never did anything halfheartedly, even when they were cast as understudies for Troy and Gabriella, and they still dedicated themselves to the roles they were given. They learned their songs and lines by heart and added life to their choreography. That kind of dedication and passion was something Troy could connect with, since he felt the same for basketball and, recently, theater.

He, along with Gabriella, had even talked to them during breaks in the rehearsals until their pleasant and casual friendship grew and the twins were almost automatically welcomed into the Wildcats gang.

Of course, Twinkle Towne had been a success. The twins had not been shy to congratulate either Gabriella or Troy himself. Actually, they had seemed proud to have been beaten by the two. At the least, Sharpay had mused, they were beaten by people who actually had talent.

"Uh, Troy?" Ryan asked again, still leaning back a bit. Troy snapped out of his reverie and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I was just thinking," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "What did you say?"

Sharpay giggled again at Troy while giving him a sideways glance, "He was asking you how class was, Troy."

"Oh, you know, same old stuff, just like always," he replied, laughing slightly.

"Really? If it was the same old stuff, then we wouldn't be seniors, then, would we?"

The joke was totally lost on Troy. He looked at Ryan, who sighed and shook his head, until he finally understood what the blond boy was talking about. "Right, you know that's not what I meant, Ry."

The blond boy waved it off and smiled, "Yeah, yeah, let's pretend you're not slower than usual," they laughed at this and continued on their way.

They reached the entrance to the theater and Ryan, more out of habit than chivalry, opened the door for his sister and for Troy, before going inside himself.

Gabriella was already there along with some of the Drama Club and a few of the students who auditioned and were cast into roles. The musical had four leads to fill and Sharpay, Ryan, Gabriella, and Troy were cast to fill those roles.

Ms. Darbus was also there, sipping from her elegant looking teacup while directing members of the Drama club onstage with moving furniture and stage props. She was in her usual eccentric outfit and matching shawl, her blonde hair made into a bun.

"Ah, Ms. Evans, Mr. Evans, Mr. Bolton, how nice of you to finally join us, we've been waiting for you." The three students joined Gabriella where the dark haired "Einsteinette" was standing offstage. She greeted at them and smiled.

"Ms. Darbus is really excited about this year's musical," she said, her eyes trained on her Drama teacher.

"When isn't she?" Troy said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I'm sure she's already plotted out how to torture us until we can sing, dance, and act with our eyes closed."

"Don't let her hear you though, because she might actually consider adding it to the script!" Ryan whispered conspiratorially. "Then we'd really have to sing, dance, and act with our eyes closed!"

They laughed and continued to talk about their drama teacher until Kelsie Nielsen, the musical's songwriter and playwright, approached them with music sheets for them to learn.

"Hey, everybody!" she said, handing Troy his music sheet. "This year's production is going to be a blast! We've got more dancers than last time and this year's supporting cast actually has talent! I am so excited, come on, come on! Let's start practicing your songs!"

Troy lifted his hands up in mock surrender, "Okay, okay, just hold your horses there, Kelsie. We've got plenty of time to rehearse our songs. Why rush?"

"Yeah, but I was thinking you guys would want to do it soon, especially you, Ryan," the petite girl said, shooting a bemused look at the boy.

"Why's that?" Kelsie was opened her mouth and was about to reply when Ms. Darbus interrupted the bespectacled girl.

"Because, Mr. Evans," they all flinched when Ms. Darbus called out from her place by the stage. She really knew how to project that they turned to look at her and saw her approaching them with quick, steady steps, a few meters away. "You will be choreographing the whole show."

Ryan gave her an "Oh" in response, but when she reached them, he smiled brightly at her. "Thank you, ma'am, I won't disappoint!" he turned to look back at them and, Troy noted, smiled mischievously. "And have I got the dance moves for you…" he trailed off.

"Ryan's choreographing? Congratulations then, Ryan." Gabriella said, smiling at the blond, missing Ryan's last comment.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd love to make us all do jazz squares during the whole show," piped Sharpay, she rolled her eyes and marched off towards the stage. "Just make sure you make it good, Ryan!"

Ryan ignored his sister's remark, knowing that she was just joking. "So, what are we waiting for then? Let's get to work!"

Troy could have sworn he heard Ryan cackling evilly when the blond turned and walked towards the stage, Kelsie and her music sheets close behind. "Huh? But it's the first day of rehearsals!"

"Exactly, Mr. Bolton! We have to have a good start to make sure that we continue with this level of energy throughout the rehearsals and the show!" Ms. Darbus declared in her usual flair. Troy just groaned.

"Come on, Troy. It's going to be fun." Gabriella said, taking his hand in her own and dragging him towards where Ryan, Kelsie, and Sharpay were already vocalizing.

&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&

Troy had to admit, the rehearsal was fun since it involved a hyper Kelsie and a much, much more hyper Ryan. They sang and danced and sang and danced some more on the stage, with Ryan revising the choreography multiple times.

If he didn't know better that Ryan's intentions were pure, Troy would have thought that the blond boy was competing with Ms. Darbus as to who could torture them all the most. He could picture the Evans boy wearing a black cape, standing over them with an evil expression on his face and cackling while they danced in perfect sync to some song playing in the background.

Speaking of the blond, the boy had gone ahead of them after Ms. Darbus had told them that rehearsal was over. Where the boy went, he didn't know.

"Hey, Troy, do you have any plans for the rest of the afternoon?" Gabriella asked, looking up at him as they walked out of the theater.

He thought about it for a moment. "Nope, except I need to get some stuff from the locker room. Why?"

"Well, Taylor asked me if she wanted to hang out for pizza at her place. Chad's going to be there and maybe some other people from the decathlon team. She was hoping you, Ryan, and Sharpay would come with me."

"Oh," was Troy's reply. "Sure, you go ahead, I'll just catch up to you at her place, all right?" he said. She smiled at him again and hurried to catch up with Sharpay and invite the so-called "Ice Queen of East High", too.

He and Gabriella weren't dating, although to some people they seemed to. The truth was that he and Gabriella were really close friends, the best of friends, and any romantic feelings they may have for each other would be at a level close to how siblings love each other.

They considered each other as brother and sister, so when people asked them if they were going out, they would wrinkle their noses in mock disgust and refute the claim. It was like dating your own brother or sister!

He walked off into the direction of the locker room, which was directly adjacent to the auditorium, with the intention of getting his sports attire from his gym locker. Just as he was entering the room, he heard the faint bouncing of a ball. He looked around and found himself alone in the locker room.

He checked his watch and saw that it was already late afternoon, classes had ended awhile ago. Curious, he decided to check out who was dribbling the ball. Judging from the sound of the bouncing of the ball, he could tell that someone was shooting hoops inside the auditorium and judging from the sound of the ball going through the hoops, he could tell that this someone knew how to shoot.

So, dropping his bag on the bench in front of his locker, he went to investigate. He wasn't trying to be quiet, but he wasn't trying to be loud too. He was just taking careful steps one at a time, _very_ careful steps.

When he reached the entrance towards the auditorium from the locker rooms, he stopped dead on his tracks. It was definitely something he didn't expect to see. The sight shocked, no _surprised_ him so much that he couldn't help but stare.

There on the basketball court, standing on the free throw line with a basketball in his hands, was Ryan Evans.

His hat was on one of the bleachers with his messenger bag and his top was darker in a few areas from the sweat. It surprised him to see the Evans without his hat on his head. Troy could see that look of determination, the one he usually saw on the blond boy when Ryan was performing, on the fair skinned face.

The blond parted his legs a little, bent his knees, and raised the ball. From where Troy was standing, Ryan had a really good form and when the blond released the ball with one fluid stroke and movement of his body, Troy was sure that Ryan had _perfect_ form, especially when he heard, rather than saw, the ball shoot through the hoop without touching the rim.

It was a perfect shot to go with the perfect form.

What an oddly pleasant surprise.

Troy's eyes did not leave Ryan's form when the blond had shot the ball through the hoops nor when the Evans took off in a jog to get and dribble the basketball. He was thankful that Ryan did not notice him yet, giving him more time to study the blond.

The boy dribbled the ball in a way that gave Troy the impression that he'd been playing basketball all his life just as he would note that with most guys from his basketball team. He watched as Ryan dribbled the ball over to the three point line as if someone was trying to take the ball away from him.

He watched as Ryan feinted and dashed to the left, dead center, and made a jump shot.

This time, Troy averted his eyes towards the ball to see if it went through the basket. It surprisingly did. He could barely believe his eyes. When did Ryan know how to play basketball? Sure, the blond boy was good at baseball, which was a surprise in and of itself but that couldn't explain his sudden mastery of Troy's favorite sport.

It surprised Troy just how much he didn't know about the guy.

Once again, Ryan ran off to get the ball and dribble it across the court. He was fast, agile, and his movements were confident and fluid. If he ever played for the team, he'd give Troy a run for his money as star athlete.

Troy thought for a moment. Ryan _was_ pretty flexible, surprisingly so. Troy berated himself immediately. Ryan was East High's Wildcat mascot, for crying out loud! How could he pull off those daredevil stunts if he wasn't flexible in some way? It made Troy wonder if all those yoga lessons Ryan shared with Mrs. Evans would work out for him too.

After watching Ryan make a few more good shots, he decided to alert the blond about his presence.

But Ryan had beaten him to it.

"Want to play a game of one on one?" the blond boy asked. He didn't seem winded at all, even after all he'd done on the court with the basketball in his hands. Troy laughed sheepishly at being caught staring, but walked towards where Ryan was standing nonetheless.

"Sure, I didn't know you played basketball, Ry," the basketball player asked, moving his arm forward to get the ball from Ryan. The blond saw this and moved the ball away from Troy's reach.

"Yeah, well, there're a lot of things you don't know about me, Troy," the blond retorted, dribbling the ball. "Like how you won't be able to steal this ball from my hands, _Bolton_."

Troy raised an eyebrow at Ryan's use of his last name. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you're challenging me, _Evans_."

Then he saw it, the mischievous smile, and knew that Ryan was indeed challenging him. It was no longer a 'game' of one on one, it was a _contest_ of skill. The nature of the game changed so rapidly it surprised Troy. There was no need to think about it. Someone had to teach Ryan that no one challenges Troy in basketball and get away victorious.

"Why, Bolton? Scared that a theater kid like me could beat you?" Ryan taunted, still dribbling the ball out of Troy's reach.

"Nah, I don't have anything to be scared about." He said, pausing. "Well, actually, I do," Troy added, shaking his arms a bit to get them pumped up with blood and adrenaline.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"I'm scared of embarrassing you." With that, Troy darted for the ball that Ryan was dribbling lazily. He felt the rubber of the ball on the tips of his fingers when suddenly he felt the rubber fly from his reach.

Ryan clasped the ball between his two hands and chuckled at Troy. "Nice try, Bolton."

Troy watched, bewildered, as Ryan resumed his lazy dribbling. "We didn't agree to any rules yet and you're already making a grab for the ball? That's cheating, you know. Now, you _do_ seem pretty scared to me."

"Haha, Evans, very funny. Half court, who ever scores 21 points or more first wins," Troy retorted, bending his knees to lunge at the ball again. Ryan smiled, again mischievously, and turned his back on Troy and made a jump shot before Troy could even react.

The ball sailed through the air and went through the basket. Troy noted that they were surprisingly standing just outside the three point line.

"Well, that's 3 – 0, Bolton, with me on the lead!" Ryan teased, watching as Troy ran towards the ball.

"Now, who's the one cheating? We didn't even start yet, and you already got yourself a 3 point lead." Troy shot back, although with a smile, as he dribbled to the three point line to even the score.

Ryan scoffed, "Hah, it's not my fault you weren't paying attention, Bolton." Then he smiled wickedly as a thought seemingly occurred to him. "Why don't you _get your head in the game_, Bolton?"

Troy's eyes widened at Ryan's remark. Did he just say that? Troy vowed to even the score when Ryan appeared in front of him with his hands poised to steal the ball. Troy dribbled the ball away and darted right with Ryan pinning his movements to the side of the court.

"Watch yourself, Bolton, that ball might go out of bounds." Troy made the mistake of watching where he was giving Ryan the opening he needed to steal the ball. The seasoned basketball player mentally slapped himself for not paying attention. Why was he getting distracted so much?

He caught up to Ryan and raised his arms to block the shot, but Ryan ducked to Troy's left and released the ball in a surprisingly smooth lay-up. The score was 5 – 0.

"My, my, Bolton, if the coach sees you play like this, he'd wonder how your team ever won the championships!" Ryan laughed, obviously enjoying how Troy was falling into his feints and techniques. "Or is it just because I'm simply better than East High's golden boy?"

The blond boy laughed again, but failed to notice that Troy was already holding the ball over at the three point line. The blond stopped, however, when he saw that Troy shot the ball into the basket, too, without much difficulty.

"Hey! That's cheating!" the Evans said, dashing towards the ball. "You were supposed to let me finish gloating! Hasn't the theater taught you anything?" When he got hold of the ball he turned only to come face to face with the playmaker who was laughing softly.

"Yeah, but you started it, Evans, I've got no choice but to play dirty, too." He said before stealing the ball and dashing towards the three point line again, but Ryan was already there and blocked any potential three point shot he had in mind, so he just shot the ball for an even score of 5 – 5.

"Seems like the score's tied, Evans." Troy laughed with Ryan joining him. "Why don't _you_ get _your_ head in the game?" Ryan smirked at him as if accepting the challenge and dashed again for the ball.

They continued playing their game of one on one until the score had reached 20 – 19, with Ryan on the lead once again. Troy dribbled the ball, backing into Ryan who had is arms to Troy's sides to block the playmaker from making any shot either left or right.

When Ryan made a grab for the ball at Troy's right, the playmaker immediately turned left and released the ball from his hands. Ryan jumped, but it was too late, the ball was already on its way towards the hoops. The ball bounced against the board and rolled on the rim a couple of times before finally going in through the hoop.

Troy laughed while patting Ryan on the shoulder. "Nice try, Ryan, it was a really close game." He said, having won the game with a final score of 20 – 21. "I actually thought I was going to lose there. I'm surprised that you're pretty good."

Ryan laughed too, shaking his head, "Yeah, but that's because I let you win, Bolton."

Troy instantly stopped laughing. "What?!"

The blond boy just smiled at him and walked towards his discarded cap and messenger bag on the bleachers. Troy caught up to him making sounds of disbelief. Did Ryan really just give him that win? Could he actually have beaten Troy if he had wanted to?

"Ry, seriously, you've got to tell me, you didn't let me win, right? I won that fair and square, right?" Troy asked, pleading that the boy was just joking around.

But Ryan seemed so serious that it was getting hard to take it as a joke, "Oh, I don't know, Troy. I guess we'll never really know especially since I got lazy at around my fifteenth score." He said, shrugging.

This caused Troy's eyes to grow wider. "But you were giving me a hell of a time at around that time! Ry, please, don't do this to me!" Ryan just laughed at Troy's expression as he reached for his newspaper boy hat. He put it on top of his head but decided not to when he remembered he was sweating all over.

"I guess we both need a good shower," Ryan said, noting how his shirt stuck to his frame because of all the sweat. He lifted part of the shirt off his chest since it made an odd sensation. He started walking towards the locker rooms, where Troy had been earlier.

The basketball player decided to leave the issue of his win against Ryan as a conversation for some other time. Meanwhile, he also noted how much of a work out their game had been and agreed with the blond.

"Yeah, at least I have spare clothes in my locker. What about you, Ry?" Troy asked, observing the blond boy's lithe body. Ryan gave him a long sideward glance and shrugged.

"I have a few spares with me, too. Do you think the showers still work at this hour?"

"Yeah, me and the team usually have late practices here, so I'm sure that there's plenty of water." And plenty of time to watch you too, Troy mused. He quickly backtracked on that thought. What was it that he had just thought about? He didn't actually think that, did he?

Ryan noticed that Troy was deep in thought again and cleared his throat, which snapped Troy back into reality.

"What's up with you, Troy? You've been spacing out a lot today."

Troy just smiled sheepishly as they reached the locker room. "I don't know. I guess I was wondering why you were here, I thought you always hitched a ride with Sharpay."

"Oh," Ryan said in response. "Well, I brought my own car with me, so I decided to hang around in the gym for a while." That made much more sense to Troy and with that said, Ryan walked away to find his locker and get undressed in order to shower up.

Troy undressed quickly and wrapped a towel around his hips. He quickly went to the shower room where he found Ryan already lathering himself up with soap. Without meaning to, Troy ran his eyes over Ryan's milky white skin mixed with the white of the soapy bubbles. He wondered briefly if Ryan's skin was just as milky smooth to the touch just as it looked.

Shaking his head of the obscene thoughts he was having of Ryan, he stepped into the shower next to Ryan and began to lather himself up too. The blond was quiet while he soaped himself to get rid of the sweat and stink, leaving Troy to his own thoughts.

This was the first time both boys ever showered together, giving Troy the chance to sneak glances at the blond boy standing next to him, butt naked. He could see that Ryan was not skinny like he had originally thought, but had an athletic build that could rival his own, another surprise he needed to take note of. Upon further inspection, he could see that Ryan's abdomen was toned, but he couldn't see the ripple of flesh due to the soapy lather Ryan was working on.

Cursed foamy soap, Troy mused. Then again, he shook himself internally for checking Ryan out. Why was he having these kinds of thoughts for his friend? It was like checking Chad out, which grossed Troy out even more than the thought of checking out Ryan. As these thoughts raced in Troy's mind, more started popping in like, was _Ryan_ gay? The blond didn't seem to act like he was all that 'manly'.

More importantly, was _he_ gay? He definitely wasn't sure about that and he was definitely going to find out, but maybe at a later time? It was such a confusing mess inside his mind that he didn't noticed Ryan trying to grab his attention by calling out his name. When Ryan touched his shoulder to shake him, the nerves on Troy's skin that Ryan had touched sent little shocks of electricity throughout Troy's body, effectively drawing his attention from his thoughts and back to Ryan.

"Huh? W-what?" he said, rather stupidly he noted, as he turned towards the blond.

Ryan chuckled slightly. "You were spacing out, _again_. I said I was going to get changed," he laughed again but let go of Troy's shoulder and walked out of the shower room with a towel around his hips. Troy just stared after him, cursing his inattentiveness for not catching a sight of Ryan's abs if they existed or not.

He sighed and continued to wash himself in record time, but his thoughts were faster than his hands. Was he _gay_? Or was he _turning_ gay? Could he _undo_ being gay? Was it so _wrong_ to be gay? What would happen to him if he _was_ gay? The thoughts in his head were causing him to space out again until Ryan called out to him.

"Troy? Are you _still_ in there?"

Blushing at Ryan's comment, Troy stopped the shower and toweled off, wrapping his towel around his hips like Ryan had and went to his locker to get changed. He saw that Ryan was sitting on one of the benches where Troy's locker was at. He had already changed into a pair of dark pants, a light green long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and the top two buttons undone, with a pair of black shoes. The newspaper boy hat he had worn earlier was replaced with a dark green fedora with a wood brown band around it.

Hot, Troy thought. Wait, not hot! He seriously needed to sort things out with his head. He was going insane! He was supposed to find _girls_ hot, not _Ryan!_

The playmaker could see Ryan watching with a hint of curiosity as Troy's facial expressions ran amok on his face. He made his way to his locker and instead of opening it to get his spare change of clothes, started banging his head on the metal door. This certainly worried Ryan, so he went over to stop Troy from bashing his head in.

"Troy! What's wrong with you?!" Ryan exclaimed, grabbing hold of Troy's shoulders to keep him from bashing his head in any more and cause a concussion. "What the," he said when Troy suddenly stopped and looked at him. "Is it something you want to talk about?"

Troy shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry if I'm acting a little weird. I guess I'm just confused."

Ryan gave him a quizzical look. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

The brown haired boy nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. I'm just really confused." He then opened his locker and started changing into his spare clothes. Then a thought occurred to him. "Oh yeah, Taylor and the others wanted to know if you wanted to go hang out at her place for some pizza. I mean, Gabriella's already asked Sharpay."

"Pizza? Sure, I'm up for it, what about you?"

"Yeah, I guess I'll come too," Troy smiled, pushing his thoughts of a naked Ryan from his mind for a brief moment. "We can even drive together there, you have your car, I have my truck."

Ryan thought about it for a moment and smiled back, "I have an even better idea," at Troy's questioning glance, he continued, "What if one of us just hitches a ride on the other? And we just drive back to the school and pick up whose ever car it is that was left behind."

Troy instantly liked the idea since it gave him some alone time with the surprising blond. "Yeah, I suggest we take your car." He said, more to avoid the embarrassment of having _Ryan Evans_ push his truck to Taylor's home than anything. After finally getting changed into his spare clothes, he stuffed his sweaty clothes into a sports bag he had in his locker and closed the metal door.

As the two boys walked out of the auditorium, Troy couldn't help but feel surprised at how his day turned out. He was able to bond with Ryan during choreography and was even surprised to find out that Ryan actually knew how to _play_ basketball. He was surprised at the milky white of Ryan's skin, at his athletic build, and most of all, he was surprised he was harboring feelings for the other boy, although he wasn't sure yet if he was gay or bi or just really confused.

They talked while walking to the student parking lot where his and Ryan's cars were parked. They talked mainly about the recent events that took place when Gabriella had entered their school, how Troy had befriended her and how Ryan tutored Gabriella with her dances.

As they reached Ryan's car, a dark, sleek 2009 BMW Series 3 convertible, Troy remembered something. Just as he was opening the door, he asked, "Hey, Ryan, when and where did you learn how to play like that?"

Ryan, who was also just about to get into the car with the car door open, looked back at Troy with an amused and playful smile.

"You'd be surprised to find out," he said, laughing as he got inside the car with Troy getting inside as well and buckling up as the blond boy revved the engine.

"Well, go ahead, my day's been full of surprises already."

&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&

* * *

A/N: This is not my first time posting at ffnet, but this is however my first time writing slash and a TRYAN too. So please be kind enough to leave a review. I accept any kind of reviews, simple hellos to constructive criticism, all are welcome.

Also, it just started as a one-shot, but I might expand this to make it into an epic/multi-chapter story. But of course, I have to check out the reception of this story first. If it is well received, I will continue this into a multi-chapter fic, if not, it stays as a one-shot and I will go on with my life and write more one-shots instead.

Update: I've decided to make this a multi-chapter story.

Thank you for reading and for leaving a review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Surprises**

**Chapter Two**

By EternalSlasher3105

"Well, go ahead, my day's been full of surprises already."

Troy smiled as Ryan gave him a sidelong glance while the blond boy drove the car out of the student parking lot. In the playmaker's opinion, Ryan had a lot of explaining to do. Like: when did he learn how to play basketball, Troy's _favorite_ sport? How did he become so good?

"I don't know, Troy. It seems pretty farfetched, even to me!" Ryan laughed, turning the car into heavy traffic.

The playmaker just shrugged his shoulders as he continued to look at Ryan. "It's okay, really. After what I've found out today, I'd pretty much believe anything." At this, Ryan laughed again. "Seriously! Now, get on with it,"

Ryan smiled as if in thought, but didn't reply to Troy immediately. His focus was entirely on the busy road he was trying to navigate through. Troy took this as an opportunity to observe the male Evans since the boy was preoccupied with driving and would not notice the playmaker's eyes.

Troy first observed Ryan's hair and noted how _golden_ it seemed, especially in the late afternoon light. He wondered briefly what it looked like during the early morning. Then, he traced the contours of Ryan's face, the supple flesh of his cheeks, his lips, and the way it seemed so smooth to the touch. To Troy, it was as if Ryan's skin was calling out to him to touch the seemingly smooth skin. People often said that the blond boy's complexion was of a deathly shade, as if he was dying. But upon closer inspection, or as close as Troy could get with a foot distance from the boy, Ryan's skin was fair: a light combination of yellow and white and pink.

If Troy didn't know any better, he'd say that Ryan _glowed._ The fact surprised Troy. It wasn't as surprising as basketball, but it was still a surprise that definitely piqued his interest. In an effort to control his hands from wandering on their own and touching that face, Troy concentrated next on Ryan's eyes. He looked at them and noted that they were a bright and lively blue, much like his own.

Next was the smile. Troy didn't really know why or how, but there was a certain quality in Ryan's smile that was just so captivating. It could capture a person's attention and keep it for long periods of time. And the best part of it was that Ryan never seemed to stop smiling. Actually, Troy suddenly noticed, he had always seen the blond boy smiling or, better yet, laughing. There was never a time that Ryan _didn't_ smile.

He was just about to find himself something else to observe about Ryan when he remembered that he wasn't supposed to feel this way for a friend, especially a _male_ friend. Besides, it wasn't like he was checking the blond boy out, since he was straight as a ruler. So, as quickly as the thoughts had trespassed into his mind, they vanished, or rather, were pushed to the far recesses of his mind.

Figuring that Ryan was taking a little too long on the explanation of why he was so skilled in basketball, Troy decided to do the one thing he thought he could do to make Ryan squeal, _literally._

The playmaker looked away at first, as if watching the others they passed, but slowly lifted his left arm up with his forefinger extended towards Ryan. He just hoped the blond boy wouldn't be too shocked that he'd lose control of the vehicle and crash.

And so, with all the stealth he could muster, Troy Bolton _poked_ Ryan on the side.

The blond boy continued driving.

Troy just sat there with his finger still in place on Ryan's side, staring with disbelief in his wide eyes. "What the?"

He heard Ryan chuckle as the blond boy shot him a glance, but said nothing. Troy continued to poke Ryan's side for a good two minutes and even went as far as wiggle his finger underneath Ryan's armpit, knowing that everybody _had_ to be ticklish there. When the blond boy chuckled, not in the hysterical way Troy had earlier thought, Troy knew that something was definitely wrong with Ryan.

"Are you even _human?!_" He exclaimed, retreating to his chair once again, arms crossed over his chest. "I mean, _seriously!_ No one is _not_ ticklish! Everybody has a spot where they just laugh and laugh and laugh! But you!" not even bothering anymore, Troy just huffed on his seat much like a child would. He was being childish, he was being immature, but he didn't care because _Ryan_ wasn't ticklish!

"What was that even for, Troy? You know I'm driving, unless you'd like the thrill of getting killed in a car accident?" Ryan said, giving Troy one of those sidelong glances again.

"Or are you just really curious about the basketball thing?"

Troy sat up straighter on his seat, as straight as his seatbelt allowed him to be. "Well, yeah! I mean, I _never_ knew you could play! I'm sure everyone's bound to get curious, too, like… when they find out."

"It's nothing special, really. I just picked up a few things here and there,"

"What kind of things, Ry?" Troy said, giving his best impression of a puppy-dog-look. Everyone at East High knew the infamous Troy Bolton look and everyone knew that it was very _effective_. Obviously, Ryan didn't count since the boy ignored the look, which made Troy wonder if Ryan was immune to puppies or he just failed miserably at the impression.

"Don't look at me like that!" Ryan laughed, slowly getting the car to stop at a red light. "It's like I stole your candy, you baby! Besides, what was that _look_? Are you constipated or something?"

"Hey! That was the cutest look I could muster!" Troy retorted, short of sticking his tongue out and throwing a temper tantrum inside the car. "Besides, you're not human, so you don't count."

"What?! I _am_ human! Is it my fault that you just don't know where to touch and how to make puppy-dog-looks?" Ryan shot back with mirth in his voice. He even dared to stick his tongue out, too. Something Troy had refrained from doing since he thought that Ryan would find him too immature for his tastes, not that he wanted to be able to meet those tastes, but at least now he knew that Ryan could be very playful sometimes.

"And besides, this is the farthest I can get to Taylor's place without you giving me directions, you know."

The realization hit Troy like a brick. He didn't realize that he wasn't giving Ryan the directions to Taylor's house since he was so busy with observing Ryan and trying to make him squeal his secret. Troy nodded and began to give Ryan the directions to Taylor's house, directing him where to turn and where to keep moving forward, all the while mulling over Ryan's hesitation to explain to him.

It seemed as if Ryan had been playing the game for as long as Troy had, but was exerting quite the effort to make sure that Troy didn't know how it'd happened. Aside from that, questions began to invade his mind again. Questions of: if Ryan had already been playing for just as long as Troy, then why didn't the boy try out for the team?

Anyway, the brown haired youth was sure that Ryan would have made it into the team without any objections, especially from Jack Bolton, Troy's father and East High's gym teacher and basketball coach. It was safe to say that Troy's dad would have encouraged Ryan to try out for the team, had any of them known that Ryan could play so well.

"I can see Sharpay's car. I guess you're not totally lost." Ryan said, sneaking another glance at Troy. "Good thing pink stands out a lot, I was beginning to think that you'd never get us there."

Troy stuck his tongue out at Ryan, just as the other boy had done earlier. "Yeah right, Ryan. I have a _great_ sense of direction" he said, imitating a snobbish accent. "Something _you_ obviously _lack_."

They looked at each other for a while, until they suddenly burst out laughing. "Theater _has_ taught you something!" the blond boy said, his shoulders shaking in mirth. "Too bad it wasn't acting." He shot Troy a glance and smiled mischievously.

Troy let the jibe go. He knew that Ryan was only kidding anyway. Instead, he opted with, "The same goes for you, Mr. Ryan Evans."

Ryan's head whipped towards him. "How dare you!" the blond boy said, pretending to be hurt by Troy's comment. "I am an _excellent_ actor, thank you! I don't think I'd need to prove that any more than I already have." He replied, in just the same snobbish accent as Troy's awhile ago.

The two boys shared a good laugh just as Ryan pulled up into the front of Taylor's house, just a few feet ahead of his sister's car. Troy unbuckled the seat belt and got out of the car. He walked over to Ryan's side of the car and saw that the boy had just gotten off of the convertible, too.

"It's a nice neighborhood, I'm sure you can leave the car open." Troy offered, smiling sheepishly at Ryan. The blond boy just waved it off.

"Sure, just don't blame me if somebody decides to steal your gym bag and take all your sweaty clothes."

"Hah, who would do that? They're just sweaty clothes!"

Ryan game him a long, scrutinizing look that being under such an intense gaze made Troy feel vulnerable. But the moment was gone and Ryan just smiled again. "You have no idea, Troy, absolutely _no idea_."

Before Troy could even ask what Ryan meant by that, Chad burst out of the front doors and ran up to Troy. "Hey, Troy!" he said and looked at Ryan, too. "Ryan," he said, smiling at the blond.

Troy turned back to Chad and gave his best friend a smile. "Hey, Chad."

"Yeah, hey," Ryan added, already walking.

The curly haired boy walked beside Troy, as if escorting him, while Ryan took the lead to the front door. Over the summer, Chad and Ryan had become friends because of their common love for baseball, a sport that Ryan was _very_ good at.

"The pizza's just arrived and we were just talking about why you two were taking so long."

Troy laughed. "I had to get a few things from my gym locker, y'know? But the strangest thing happened." He said, catching Chad's interest instantly. Whether Ryan heard him or not, the blond boy just entered the McKessie household and went straight for the kitchen as the two best of friends continued right behind him.

"Yeah? What happened?" Chad pressed, curious to what could have possibly held Troy and Ryan up, but Troy waved him off.

"I'll tell you later, but right now, I am _hungry_."

"Hi, Ryan! Hi, Troy! Help yourselves to some pizza, get them while they're hot. Oh and there's soda in the fridge too." Taylor said, giving Ryan a quick hug. "What took you guys so long?"

As Ryan began his rather long and detailed explanation about how he didn't know the directions to the house and that a brown haired _someone_ was being difficult, Troy took the opportunity to survey the people inside the kitchen while he grabbed a slice and sat down on one of the kitchen barstools.

"Hey, Troy." Gabriella greeted, smiling at him. "We were just talking about you."

With him on the kitchen island sitting on the various barstools were Gabriella, Kelsie, Sharpay, and Martha Cox. "I thought Taylor was going to have some of the scholastic decathlon over?" he asked around the kitchen island.

"Oh, they couldn't make it. They had different engagements," Martha Cox, a chubby girl with wavy hair who loved hip-hop, replied. "At least there's more pizza!" she said, taking a bite out of the slice she already had in her hand.

"So, Troy, what took you guys so long?" Sharpay asked, slicing into her pizza with a knife and fork. "Gabriella said something about stuff in lockers."

Troy laughed. It was around this time that Chad had taken a seat to his right while Ryan and Taylor also sat, but across him with their respective slices of the Italian treat in their plates. He gave Ryan a long look, but the Evans didn't seem to notice. "I guess it was the traffic?" he said lamely. That was when Ryan looked up to meet his gaze.

He didn't know why, but Troy had this feeling he should keep the basketball game with Ryan a secret, at least for the time being until he finally found out Ryan's secret. Not that the game was a private and intimate moment he shared with the male Evans. It was just a friendly game between two totally straight, women-loving guys. It was _not_ an intimate moment! It was not an anything moment!

Stupid thoughts, Troy mused. Again, he pushed that thought and all other similar thoughts to the back of his mind for later review. He needed to focus on the present. The others seemed to buy the excuse so he didn't continue. Ryan had also averted his attention to something that Gabriella had asked.

Chad noticed that Troy was deep in thought and worried if his best friend was okay, "Dude, something wrong?" he asked, patting Troy's shoulder gently. "You look like you're doing a lot of thinking."

"Yeah, something you should do often, Chad," piped Taylor. Martha and Kelsie just laughed at Taylor's antics while Chad smiled sarcastically. He looked back at Troy who was chewing on his pizza and staring off into space.

He was about to ask again when Troy suddenly spoke up. "I'm okay, dude, just thinking about some things."

"Like college?" Chad offered. Troy just nodded his head.

"Yeah, something like that."

As the people around him just started talking about random things, Troy slowly began to focus his eyes on Ryan, just like when they were in the car. The people around him were preoccupied with their own conversations and Troy didn't hear them as the world suddenly slowed down and Ryan became the focus of his world.

It was an unnerving, strange, and definitely scary feeling, but it was also a nice, tender feeling. Something he's never felt for anyone or anything before. Before he got too dramatic, he shook his head to clear it of thoughts and concentrated on the conversations going around him, trying his best to seem as if he was interested with what they were saying and not with the blond boy sitting across him. Of course, he couldn't get what any of them were saying because he hadn't paid attention earlier.

Come to think of it, ever since that basketball game, thoughts of Ryan invaded his mind more often than usual. It was like the game had opened up his eyes to the subject that was Ryan like never before… and what a handsome subject he was. Handsome and athletic and _sexy _and handsome…

What?

When he realized what he was _thinking_ Troy derailed his train of thought, but the momentum was far too great and it crashed and all the brain cells died. But the train of thought rose from the flames and continued on its way like nothing happened.

After his failed attempt at diverting his thoughts, Troy knew then that something was terribly (or maybe wonderfully) wrong. He couldn't stop the tidal wave of mental images he was having of Ryan. It was like he was having an epiphany! It was unstoppable, it was fast, and it wasn't entirely wholesome. Troy Bolton was, in other words, having a crush on Ryan Evans.

And it wasn't even an entirely innocent crush too.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait… this cannot be happening to me." He muttered to himself, much to Chad's shock and worry. "This can_not_ be happening to me! No way!"

After his outburst, the conversations in the kitchen suddenly died out as everyone's attention was on Troy and his rather delusional outcry. "Troy?" Gabriella said cautiously, "is there something wrong?"

Troy looked at her and blinked a few moments. What was he going to do?!

"I think I forgot something. Something important." he replied lamely. He decided right then that he would try his best to keep himself together at least until the little gathering was over and he could brood and act insane in his room. "But I think that something can wait, at least until later in the evening." With that, he sat himself back down on the barstool. Everyone took this as a good reason for his sudden exclamation and resumed, all the while Troy shot Ryan furtive glances every so often.

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When they had all finished their pizzas and drinks, everyone bid their goodbyes and went on their way to their respective homes with Chad staying a while later to spend some quality time with Taylor. Of course, Ryan was Troy's ticket home.

And that was when Troy was feeling edgy. And jumpy, too.

He was sitting on the passenger seat beside Ryan in the convertible, again like earlier, and the proximity to the boy was driving Troy up the wall. He wasn't completely coming to terms yet with what it meant to have a crush on the boy, he wasn't even sure he had a crush! But one thing was for certain that time, Troy was feeling nervous.

"What's wrong with you today, Troy? All day you've been acting strange. You're distracted, fidgety, and you're always looking off into space or something. Are you sure you're feeling all right?"

Troy nodded. "Yeah, yeah! I'm peachy! Just peachy."

"Well, you don't look like you're peachy. And I've noticed that you're acting even worse when I'm anywhere near you. Care to tell me what's up?"

_Damn, he noticed!_ Troy cursed, but kept it to himself. He had no idea what he was going through, so what could he possibly tell Ryan? Or _how_?

"It's nothing, Ryan, just drive. I guess I'm feeling a little light headed from the game, that's all."

"You, light headed after a game with me? That's a laugh." Ryan said, smirking a bit.

"No, no, I'm serious." Troy said, wiping sweat off his brow. "I guess it's because I didn't warm up and my body's not taking that too well."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I'll tell you why I know how to play basketball." the blond boy said, turning the car into the road that would take them to East High. The trip seemed shorter on their way back, but maybe it was because Ryan was already familiar with the area and was more able to slip through the traffic. Whatever the reason, Troy didn't care because Ryan was going to tell him his secret.

"It all started when I was in grade school," Ryan started.

"We were in the same class, right?" Troy butted in, suddenly remembering.

The blond just nodded. "Yeah, and I was new to the school. I decided that I wanted to get to know more of the school's layout so I went out for a walk around the campus one afternoon."

"And then?"

"Well, just when I was turning around that final corner of school, I came across the basketball ring and found this kid dribbling a ball that was too big for his small hands, you know? I thought, 'I think I know him', but this kid was concentrating so much on his dribbling that I didn't want to bother him."

Troy thought for a moment. "Okay, and then?"

"And then the kid just shot the ball and it went in." Ryan was turning the car into the student parking lot of East High as he continued, "The sight was just so, I don't know, overwhelming, I guess. I wanted to know this kid, but then I realized that we probably wouldn't have much in common, so I decided that I needed to learn how to play his game too."

"So I asked my dad to get me a personal trainer and stuff and I would train at home in the family gym every night and during the weekends just so that I could pull off a perfect shot like that kid I saw at school. I practiced a lot, but then… the kid already found himself a best friend and he and his best friend were so _inseparable_ that I couldn't bring myself to get to know him. I felt like I would only be ruining their friendship or something."

"And then what happened?" Troy pressed as Ryan stopped the car beside Troy's pick-up truck.

"Well, nothing, I continued to practice though, but other stuff caught my attention too, like dance and the theater, and those took up most of my time, but I always set aside time for basketball practice, hoping that maybe someday I'd have the chance to get to know that kid. But as the years passed, that chance never came."

"Oh, that sucks, Ryan. Maybe you should have just made friends with the guy, I'm sure his best friend wouldn't have minded the extra company."

"Yeah, maybe I should have and maybe it would have turned out differently…"

Troy looked at Ryan for a long while, seeing that the blond boy was looking out the windshield for a long moment too. He had this odd feeling that he knew who this kid Ryan was talking about, but he was drawing blanks from his mind.

"Wait, so you learned how to play basketball just so you could get to know this guy?"

"Yup."

"Wow, I mean, wow, Ryan. You are one dedicated person." Troy said, shaking his head a bit in disbelief while Ryan just nodded and smiled. "But then why didn't you try out for the team? I mean, you're _really_ good! My dad would love for you to be in the team!"

Ryan just sighed, "Well, I guess with all of the things that were going on, it must've slipped my mind. Besides, I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the other stuff that I loved like dancing and acting. Basketball was just something I learned so that I could make a friend, I wasn't really interested in playing it for anyone else."

Seeing Ryan's point, Troy changed the subject. "So do I know this guy? Was he in our class too?"

At this, Ryan gave him a long look, as if he was studying him. "I think you know him, Troy." Ryan finally said, a smile hinting at his lips. "Yeah, I think you know him pretty well. And you'd be surprised to know that he's in the basketball team, too, just like you."

"Oh? Then who is this guy?" He didn't want to admit it, but he was jealous and a little thankful of whoever this guy was because he was the one who had _inspired_ Ryan Evans to play basketball just so that the blond could make friends, but he pushed that aside with his other Ryan related thoughts.

Before Ryan could answer the question, though, his cellular phone began to ring. Ryan took it out of his pocket and answered with a "Hello?"

Troy waited for a moment as Ryan listened to the person on the other line. "I'm at school right now, dad, I was just giving Troy a ride back so that he could get to his car and get home. Yeah, I know, I'll be there in a few. Bye." Ryan hung up and looked back at Troy sheepishly.

"I guess you need to go?" Troy asked, a little disappointed that they couldn't talk much longer. He was enjoying Ryan's company a lot.

"Yeah, and you need to get home, too. I'm sure your parents are waiting for you."

"My mom's probably freaking out right now. I guess this is it for now, see you tomorrow at school?"

"Sure." The blond paused, as if thinking then added, "If you want, you can call me. You know my number," and with that Ryan started the engine as Troy got out and went inside his truck. "Bye, Troy!" Ryan managed to shout before backing the car out of the parking space and into the road.

Troy watched Ryan's car as it disappeared into the sea of cars that were traveling down the road too at pick hour, feeling a wide smile grow on his lips without really knowing it.

"Bye, Ry." he said, before revving his engine too.

&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&OO&O&

When he got home he dropped by the kitchen to kiss his mom on the cheek and pat his dad's shoulder before going up to his room to get ready for dinner, all the while thinking about his conversation with Ryan and the mysterious guy from grade school.

The feeling that he should know this person occurred to Troy again, but then he couldn't place a name to this guy. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't hear his dad come into his room to call him to dinner.

"Troy, are you feeling okay?" at his father's question, Troy jumped and turned around with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, dad. I'm okay. Just a little tired."

"Well, you better get down to eat dinner, son, you mom's waiting." Jack Bolton said before walking out of the room with his son in tow. "You seem like you've got something on your mind, Troy."

"Well, yeah. It was just that I had a little surprise in the auditorium this afternoon," Troy said, seating himself across his mom to his dad's left while Jack Bolton sat at the head of the table.

Lucille Bolton smiled at her son as she finished putting all of the food on the table. "Had a fun day today, Troy?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, it was very fun." Troy said, nodding his head as if to give his answer more emphasis. "We had some pizza over at Taylor's place before I got home. Aside from that nothing special's happened."

"Except maybe for that surprise in the auditorium," Jack interjected. Troy's fork stopped midway to his mouth as he eyed his father. He liked to think that he had a very good and very open relationship with his parents, his dad most especially, and he did. But there were times where they would ask him questions that totally caught him off guard.

"A surprise? What kind, honey?" his mother pressed.

"Well, when I went to the locker rooms to get some of my clothes and stuff, I kinda walked in on Ryan Evans in the auditorium playing."

Jack gave him a curious look. "Playing… what?"

"Basketball." Troy finished lamely, returning his attention to the food on his plate.

"Basketball? Ryan Evans knows how to play basketball?" Jack said slowly, while Lucille shrugged like it wasn't a big deal and continued with her food. "Well, I've never seen him play in gym, is he good?"

Troy nodded, a little too enthusiastically that his neck hurt, "Yeah, dad, he's _really_ good. We had a one-on-one game and he almost beat me."

This bit of information seemed to shock Jack Bolton even more, but the head of the Bolton family only nodded and resumed with his own food before saying, "Well, I guess I'm a little surprised, but not too much. I've seen him during gym class and he's not really bad. I'd say he's pretty athletic, too. I just haven't seen him do any sports, except maybe baseball."

"You know what, I think Ryan is a very sweet boy, very polite and attentive," Lucille said, smiling again. "I met his parents once and they are such a sweet pair. I'm sure they raised Ryan to be just as sweet?"

"Yeah, but what concerns me more is if he's as good as you say he is, then why hasn't he tried out for the team?" Jack said, looking at Troy expectantly.

The playmaker shrugged and chewed his food before swallowing. "He said something about having other things taking his time and stuff. He loves theater more than he does basketball, I guess."

After that brief discussion, the Boltons continued with their dinner before Troy finally finished first and excused himself before going up to his room to get some of his homework done. As he lay on top of his bed, all he could think about was Ryan and he couldn't gather enough focus to actually do his homework.

It occurred to Troy that he could have phoned the blond boy, but he couldn't focus enough to do his homework and calling Ryan would only make it worse.

So he did the only thing he could think of, think. Think about what he was feeling and thinking about Ryan. Think about what it meant for him and his future. Think about what it meant for him and his sexuality.

Think.

And soon after all that thinking, Troy began to fall asleep, with the last thoughts in his mind being thoughts about Ryan and how nice it would be if maybe, just maybe, he was that mysterious kid in grade school.

That he was the one who inspired Ryan to play just so that the blond could make friends with him.

And just as he was drifting slightly deeper into his sleep, one last thought managed to trickle through the fog of drowsiness. It was more of a realization, an acceptance of the circumstances that he was in.

He was falling in love with Ryan Evans.

Probably.

And with that last thought, Troy lost himself in a world of dreams.

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**Author's Note:** Hey, guys. As you have just seen, I have decided to continue this story as a multi-chapter story. I had received sweet reviews over the past two weeks, but the number of people who subscribed to author/story alerts were even more numerous. Guys, I appreciate that you would subscribe to me at all, but it would make me feel even better if you guys left a review. I don't care if it's just a simple hello or a mammoth review/critique, just as long as you guys let me know how you feel about the story. A subscription doesn't tell me much if they liked a chapter or not. So, please review. (I am such a review whore LOL). Tell me what you think.


	3. Chapter 3

**Surprises**

**Chapter Three**

By SlasherEternal3105

Troy Bolton opened his eyes slowly and squinted at the glare of the early morning sun. He turned on his side and took a look at the digital clock on his bedside table. It was an hour and a half before the first period.

Surprisingly, he hadn't overslept like he usually did and could still get ready for school. With a groan, he forced himself to get off his bed and went into the bathroom to take a shower. After a while, he emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist, water dripping from his wet hair, feeling refreshed.

He put on a pair of dark blue boxers, freshly picked from his dresser, and a pair of jeans. He rummaged his dresser for a shirt, found one, and put it on. It was red, with a yellow vertical line running from his left shoulder downwards. It came to Troy that this color combination should remind him of something, but nothing seemed to register, so he left it alone.

After putting on a pair of socks and shoes, he went down to the kitchen. There, he found his father seated with a newspaper in his hands and his mother humming as she worked over the stove. "Good morning," he blurted out, taking a seat across his dad.

"Good morning," his mother replied, deftly flipping the pancake she was cooking. She gave Troy a cursory glance and smiled before returning her focus to the pancakes. His father, taking a moment from his newspaper, put it down and looked at Troy.

"You're up early." The older male Bolton said, a curious expression on his face, as if he didn't believe what he was seeing. The look his father was giving him made Troy feel a little uneasy. "I'm not used to seeing you at this hour."

Troy almost pouted at his dad's remark. Almost. "Very funny, dad," he said, crossing his arms instead and raising an eyebrow in challenge. "It's not even that early." His mother placed a plate full of pancakes on the table in front of him as he said this and placed one in front of his dad, too.

Jack Bolton looked at his watch and noted it was an hour before first period. "Right. Well at least I don't have to wake you up," he said, folding the newspaper and setting it beside his food before picking up his knife and fork.

Troy's mother laughed. "What a chore that is, right, hon?" she added, taking a seat beside Jack and tossing an amused look at Troy. His dad could only nod in response. "Well, I just hope you'd keep this up."

Troy shook his head, but smiled nonetheless. "Then I'd never get any homework done, mom," he said, pouring a liberal amount of syrup onto his pancakes. "I slept early. I guess I was really tired." With that, he dug into his pancakes, cutting them to pieces that could fit into his mouth easily, savoring the taste of maple syrup on his breakfast.

Ryan. Troy realized he was going on full autopilot cleaning himself up for school with no thought whatsoever about Ryan. But now that he was clean and ready and eating breakfast, thoughts of the blond boy suddenly came flooding into his sleep muddled brain.

As he quickly went about eating his food, random observations he made about the Evans boy the day before flashed in his mind: his fair skin, his sparkling blue eyes, his golden hair, his kissable lips…

Troy choked on a half chewed piece of pancake as he backtracked on that last thought, eliciting worried looks from his mom and dad. Kissable lips? Since when did he think Ryan's lips were kissable? Actually, since when did _he_ become an expert on what passes for _kissable_? Even more importantly, why in the world would he _want_ to kiss the blond boy?

He was straight! There was no way East High's golden boy could ever have a _crush_ on another guy. Troy quickly downed a glass of juice, to help push the pancake down his throat and to wash away the thoughts of the blond boy. He panted from the effort of drinking a whole glass of juice without taking any breaths.

"I'm okay." He said, more to himself than to his parents. "I ate too fast."

"You in a hurry or something, son?" his father asked, shrugging at Troy's excuse.

Troy shook his head and finished his pancakes. He stood up and thanked his mom for the wonderful breakfast and went up to his room to get his bag and car keys. He glanced at his watch and it read forty-five minutes before first period. He hurried to his truck and started the engine. Deciding that his truck had warmed up, he changed gears and drove, joining the early morning traffic towards East High.

On the way to school, Troy couldn't help but think about Ryan, about his feelings toward the boy, and about the repercussions of what this could mean. But then again, he was just so confused. _It's happening too fast,_ he thought.

He couldn't possibly admit he was crushing on the blond boy: he was straight, and so was Ryan. So, he rationalized that it was too early and too sudden to have developed a crush on the sexy boy.

Wait, _sexy?_

Troy let out a frustrated grunt and slammed his hand against the steering wheel, annoyed at the not-so-wholesome thoughts he kept having of Ryan. Why was it that his brain kept betraying him at such inconvenient times? Like while he was driving?

But if he had to admit anything, then he would admit that Ryan _was_ sexy. What wasn't sexy about the blond boy? The athletic build, the hair, the handsome face, everything about him oozed a sex appeal that, unfortunately for Troy, definitely got Troy Jr. interested.

At this realization, and at the dirty implication of this thought, Troy looked down at his crotch, as if staring down the erection that he felt was about to happen. He felt betrayed by his own body, "You traitor," he muttered to his crotch, "You're supposed to be taking _my_ side. Not anyone else's, _mine!_" regardless of how crazy it sounded, he said it anyway.

It then occurred to him that maybe he was acting a little too crazy.

"Well maybe I am crazy, I mean, he's a _guy!_"

A rude honk from behind stirred him from his ramble. He looked around to see the cause for the honk and saw that the red light had turned green and that he was holding up the rest of the drivers behind him.

Muttering under his breath, he drove and once again pushed away all his thoughts of Ryan back. He would deal with them later, when he had the time and the patience to deal with them.

Right now, he needed to collect himself and stay calm, cool, and –

He jumped in his seat when he heard: "Morning, Troy, you're here early," Ryan said, suddenly peering into Troy's truck through the front passenger's seat window. Troy made a wild and exaggerated gesture, grabbing at his chest as if he was suffering from a heart attack. This made Ryan laugh that sweet, sweet laugh.

"Ryan! I didn't see you there," he said, praying that the blond had taken his shock as part of his act and not really him being shocked by the Evans boy's presence. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

Ryan chuckled, "Yeah, I figured, too bad though," referring to Troy's gesture, earning a near-pout from the playmaker. "You were spacing out, weren't you?"

Troy smiled sheepishly, getting out of his truck and rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "Yeah, I guess," he replied, rather lamely. He looked past the Evans boy and saw that the blond had driven to school on his own car again, instead of hitching a ride with his sister like he usually did. "Your sister here yet?"

The male twin shook his head. "She's still at home," he replied. "I have no idea what she's still doing there, though." He then tilted his head to one side as he looked at Troy, with the playmaker noting that Ryan looked cute this way, "What are _you_ doing here?"

Troy mimicked a sigh of exasperation at the question. "What is it with you people? First my parents, now you." He put a great effort into seeming greatly put-out by Ryan's question, although the blond boy knew that he was just acting. "It's not even that early!"

Ryan glanced at his watch, much like how Troy's dad did, and smiled. "I guess your right, but it's still kind of weird."

"What is?" Troy raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Ryan said, smiling and heading towards the school's entrance. "Why don't we get our books while there's still time?"

If the golden boy hadn't known better, he'd think that his parents and Ryan were conspiring to drive him insane. But he did know better, so he didn't think that was the case. Instead, his eyes wandered all over Ryan's body as he followed the boy into school, all rational thought gone with the wind as his mind suddenly had a _mind of its own_, taking control of his body and making him observe things he didn't want to observe, at least publicly.

Where people _could_ catch his wandering eyes in the act of, well, checking someone out: checking a _boy_ out while said boy was talking about Sharpay or something related to class. Whatever, Troy's ears didn't seem to be working, his brain tuning out the blond boy in favor of focusing more neural processes to his eyes.

Ryan was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled to just above the elbows, the buttons done all the way save for the two at the very top, with the shirt tucked in his white pants.

Troy's eyes lingered on Ryan's butt longer than any normal male teenager's should, but he couldn't help it. His eyes were moving on their own, disobeying everything he was telling them to do, or rather, not do.

With great effort, he was able to divert his eyes to the ceiling when Ryan turned his head in mid-sentence to look at him. "Troy, you're doing it again," he said, shaking his head. Troy pretended to have been jolted out of some reverie by Ryan's comment.

"Doing what again?" he said, although he knew perfectly well what the blond boy meant.

"You're spacing out again. Just like yesterday." Ryan said, arching his eyebrow again, a smile on his lips. Before Troy could answer though, they heard someone call out their names down the hall.

"Yo, Troy! Ryan!"

The two boys turned toward the source of the voice and saw Chad Danforth coming their way, his hair as bouncy and full of volume as always. Troy didn't know what better time he appreciated having Chad as a best friend than he did now. Thanks to Chad, Troy could divert his attention to him, instead of someone's interestingly firm backside.

Both boys waited for Chad to catch up, Troy exchanging a high-five with him as he finally caught up and Ryan giving him a nod in acknowledgement. Together, they walked down the corridor to where their lockers were before first period began.

"Dude, I just had the most awesome dream," Chad said, putting an arm on Troy's shoulders, steering the basketball captain through the crowd of students with Ryan keeping astride with them, listening in to the conversation while being politely quiet.

"Imagine this: you, me, the boys, and a grand slam championship!" Chad said. "And not only that, we get college scholarships for being so _awesome!_" Troy smiled at his friend's energy, feeling them in waves coming from his best friend. "And, man, the _chicks_!" Chad continued to prattle on about his 'so awesome dream', but Troy felt that despite all of his efforts, he couldn't seem to keep his attention on his friend.

He noticed that Ryan was politely keeping to Chad's side, not saying anything and appearing not to notice that he was being left out of the conversation. He also noticed that from time to time, Ryan would glance his way, smile, and move his eyes front again. Troy blinked. Was it possible that Ryan was checking _him_ out, too? He smiled at the idea, not because there was a possibility that Ryan was gay, which would mean that Troy was gay, too; but because Ryan found Troy worth checking out.

Then the thought that he liked knowing that he was attractive to another boy slammed him back to reality. He nearly spluttered at the realization, but somehow managed not to distract Chad from his enthusiastic recounting of his dream. It was, of course, noticed by Ryan, but Troy was too busy convincing himself that it didn't matter to him if Ryan found him attractive because he was straight as an arrow to notice Ryan's knowing glance.

The rest of the morning sped by as Troy fell into a kind of trance throughout his classes. He ignored the pointed looks his teachers gave him when he was obviously not listening to their lectures, even the questioning glances of his classmates. They didn't know that he was going through a major internal battle with himself, he was desperately rationalizing himself and his sometimes perverted thoughts about Ryan.

It wasn't until the last period before lunch break did things go downhill for Troy.

He entered his class in a daze. This was one of the few subjects that he ever shared with Ryan, so he was silently looking forward to it, maybe he could spend the entire period just watching Ryan. He took his usual seat, somewhere in the middle, with Ryan's seat to his far right in the front row. He noticed that Ryan wasn't in his seat, but his bag and cap were on the desk. _Maybe he just went to the bathroom_, Troy thought. He leaned back on his chair and tried to focus.

Slowly, since he was so lost in his thoughts, he began to realize that there was no one else in the classroom. He noticed small details like the teacher's table: it was empty of any stuff that the teacher usually placed on the surface like books, pens, stacks of paper, or even his bag. He noted that the chairs were completely bare of anything. There were no bags, stray pieces of paper, or any sign of students occupying the chairs.

The shelves were empty. The windows were closed with the drapes drawn shut. The lights were a dim red color. Troy suspected that he had entered the wrong room since he'd been so preoccupied with his inner struggle. He stood up and walked over to the door, peered his head outside too look and saw that there were students rushing about in the corridor, trying to get to their classes in time. But none of them were any of his classmates. The same could be said for the teachers, as none of them was the teacher for this class.

It was a kind of unnerving mystery for the playmaker, but decided that it was too troublesome to find out where everyone went. Since Ryan's things were there, he might as well wait for the blond boy. Maybe _he_ knew where everyone else was.

Troy shook his head, as if from a daze. How would _Ryan_ know where everyone else was if he was here, too? He plopped into his seat and rested his chin on his hand, his fingers drumming against the side of his face.

He wondered where the blond boy really was though. It wasn't like he just needed someone to ogle, it was just that it was getting kind of boring and uninteresting and he needed someone to talk to at least. Well, Ryan is a good listener, I guess, he thought to himself. But I wonder what really goes on in that head of his?

That got Troy thinking: What is it really like to know Ryan? As he kept on thinking about Ryan, he also began to see images of them lying in bed, whispering, cuddling, trying so hard not to laugh too loud or else his parents might hear. Troy didn't try to stop these obviously not-straight thoughts from coming. In fact, he actually relished them. What _would _it be like?

"Oh, and I thought I was the only one. Lucky me," Troy snapped towards the door to the classroom and saw Ryan standing there, just inside. "I thought you'd gone with the rest of the class, Troy," the blond boy continued, taking smooth strides toward the dazed playmaker.

"Wha- what do you mean?" Ryan cocked his head to the side and just smiled at Troy, obviously finding his confusion amusing. "Well, everyone in class, including our teacher, has gone for an impromptu field trip, Troy," he said, sitting on a chair beside Troy's. "I think it was a spur of the moment thing in our teacher's part."

"Where'd they go then? And why didn't you go with them?" Troy asked, straightening his back and trying to make himself look presentable. Ryan just shrugged.

"I didn't think it was going to be much fun. Besides, I could ask you the same question."

"But I didn't know! I just got here a minute ago, I swear!" Troy said, trying hard not to pout and whine, but knew that that must have been what seemed to Ryan. "Damn, I want to go on that field trip, too!" This time the whine was evident in his voice. But he didn't mind, because he didn't think Ryan would either.

Ryan raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Hey, since they'll be gone for an hour or so, we can still catch up to them, I think they just went to the local museum or something."

Troy looked at Ryan as if the blond boy had just answered his prayers. "Yeah, we could do that, couldn't we?"

Then again, he didn't expect what came next, "Or we could just skip the rest of the day. Y'know, take off and never come back. Until tomorrow, of course," Ryan said, looking quite thoughtful.

Troy was silent for a moment, contemplating the idea of going on a date with Ryan. Then he mentally kicked himself for thinking that. The idea that Ryan was asking him out on a date was simply _absurd_ and completely- completely-_ something_ that he couldn't describe. Was he actually looking forward to spending some more alone time with Ryan? It could be, but maybe the more rational explanation would be that _he's just asking me to hang out!_

"Y-yeah, that sounds cool, too," Troy managed to say, getting up and picking up his stuff. "So, where are we headed?"

"Hmm, I was thinking, my house?" said Ryan with a totally straight face. "I've got some video games we could try. Or we could watch a movie. Anything's fine."

Troy cocked an eyebrow. "You're the one who asked me to skip the rest of the school today and you have no idea what we should do? The heck kind of invitation is that?" he said, trying not to smile.

Ryan just nodded and smiled at Troy, "Hey, you can't blame me. It was kind of a spur of the moment thing for me, y'know. It's not like I've been secretly wanting you to come over to my house. Although, going over to my house seems to be the best option we have right now. None of the movies out now are any good and I'd rather not get caught in the arcade by some teacher or whatever."

"Hah, fine by me, Evans, fine by me."

"Yes, well, to my house!"

~O~

**Author's Note**: Yes, yes, yes, I've been gone for quite some time, like 3 years? But I've returned and am not giving up on this pairing! I hope you enjoyed reading this as I have enjoyed writing it, so please leave me a review telling me what you think. Good bye!

PS. I've been gone a looooong time, but here I am! So please don't kill me. XD


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